If payment is received by the council within 14 days of the Penalty Charge Notice being served, a discounted payment will be accepted. For parking Penalty Charge Notices issued by camera car, the discount period is extended to 21 days. After this time, the penalty will increase to the full charge.

Most major debit/credit cards are accepted. You'll need to enter your vehicle registration number and your Penalty Charge Notice number (please note if the PCN has been issued by a Civil Enforcement Officer today it won't be available to pay online until tomorrow).

If you believe that the parking penalty is incorrect or shouldn't be paid, you may wish to challenge the Penalty Charge Notice. If this is the case, please do not pay the fine. Please note that the registered keeper of the vehicle at the time the contravention occurred is liable for the payment of the penalty charge.

All challenges/representations must be made in writing. This is so they can be reproduced should the penalty charge case progress to independent adjudication via the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.

Please note if you have received a Parking Penalty Charge Notice/Notice to Owner document in the post and wish to make a formal representation you must follow the instructions on the document.

All cases will be considered on their individual circumstances and you will be sent notification on whether your challenge has been accepted or rejected by Middlesbrough Council. Your case will be placed on hold and the fine held at the amount currently outstanding while we consider your challenge.

If you submit your challenge within 14 days beginning with the date on which the Penalty Charge Notice was served (21 days for Penalty Charge Notices issued by camera car) and the challenge is rejected, the council will re-offer the discount period. You will be given a further 14 days (21 days for Penalty Charge Notices issued by camera car) from the date of the Council’s rejection letter to pay at the discounted amount. If the challenge is submitted outside of the discount period the full penalty charge will be payable if your challenge is rejected.

For parking Penalty Charge Notices served on the vehicle or driver by a Civil Enforcement Officer you can make a challenge:

Put your challenge in a letter, including the Penalty Charge Notice number, your name and postal address, and with any supporting evidence securely attached. We recommend that you only submit copies of any original evidence; if you wish to submit originals, please ensure that you keep a copy for your records.

If your challenge is rejected you have the option to pay the penalty charge or wait for the Notice to Owner document to make a further representation called a formal representation. Please note you can still make a formal representation even if you've previously had a challenge rejected.

Wait for the issue of the Notice to Owner document - you may make a formal representation to the council in response to the Notice to Owner.

If the penalty charge remains unpaid, a Notice to Owner document requesting payment of the full penalty charge amount will be sent to the person who was the registered keeper of the vehicle at the time the parking contravention occurred, according to the records held by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).

The Notice to Owner will give instructions on how to pay or how to make a formal representation to the council. The council will consider the formal representation and you/the registered keeper will be sent written notification on whether your formal representation has been accepted or rejected.

If you do nothing and ignore the Notice to Owner document, you/the registered keeper will be sent a Charge Certificate approximately 28 days later, which increases the amount owed by 50% to £105/£75.

Rejected formal representations

If your formal representation has been rejected by the Council you will be sent a 'Notice of Rejection of Formal Representations'. This will explain that you have two options, either:

Making an appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal is the final stage of disputing a bus lane Penalty Charge Notice. The Traffic Penalty Tribunal is independent of the council and there is no charge to make an appeal.

You can only appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal if you've first made a formal representation to the council (in response to a Penalty Charge Notice/Notice to Owner) and have received a 'Notice of Rejection of Formal Representations' in response. All appeals made to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal are against the full penalty amount of £60.

A 'Notice of Appeal' form will be attached to the 'Notice of Rejection of Formal Representations'. You must complete this form and send it to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal. This must be done within 28 days of being served with the council's 'Notice of Rejection of Formal Representations'. Alternatively you may submit your appeal to the tribunal online using the PIN code provided in the 'Notice of Rejection of Formal Representations'.

Notice to Owner (a combined Penalty Charge Notice/Notice to Owner is sent for postal PCNs)

Charge Certificate

Order For Recovery (TE3)

Failure to pay the amount outstanding will result in the council taking action against you/the registered keeper to recover the amount due. The debt will be registered at the Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC) at Northampton County Court. The Order for Recovery (TE3) is sent to advise that a debt has been registered; this also adds a £7 debt registration fee onto the amount outstanding.

The stages of enforcement and fees added by enforcement agents are detailed below:

Notice of enforcement: this is a letter informing the debtor of the debt and giving them an opportunity to pay. A charge is applied to their account which is set to £75.

Enforcement stage: physical attendance at the debtor’s address by an enforcement agent to take control of goods. The enforcement agent can take control of goods either at or on the premises, or on the highway. A fixed charge of £235 and 7.5% of any sum over £1500 can be applied to the account.

Removal and sale stage: goods are physically removed by the enforcement agent. A fixed charge of £110 and 7.5% on any sum in excess of £1500 is applied.

The council doesn't set up payment plans to allow parking Penalty Charge Notices to be paid in instalments. If an amount is received by the council which doesn't satisfy the penalty in full, the Penalty Charge Notice will progress in line with normal Penalty Charge Notice procedure.

Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) are bylaws created to implement traffic management controls on roads and in car parks. TROs are made to regulate speed, movement and parking. The law requires a TRO to be in place to enable the council to enforce parking and traffic restrictions.

Please note, this is not applicable to bus stops and zig zag markings at pedestrian crossings as no TRO is required to enforce these restrictions.

The Traffic Penalty Tribunal keeps a library of TROs which can be viewed online. Middlesbrough Council's TROs can be viewed on their website. The council's bus lanes are described in schedule 16 of order MR24 - The Council of the Borough of Middlesbrough (Traffic Movements) (Consolidation) Order 2013 as amended.

Councils using CCTV to enforce parking and traffic restrictions can only do so by using an 'approved device'. The device must be certified by the Secretary of State for Transport. The Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) has been appointed to do this on behalf of the Secretary of State.

The Traffic Penalty Tribunal keeps copies of VCA Certificates in its Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) library which can be viewed online. Middlesbrough Council's certificates can be viewed on their website. View the council's CCTV code of practice.